B-side Remix Recorded France, 1992 | Released September 1992 Length 3:23 | |
Format CD single, CD maxi, 7" single,
12" maxi, cassette Genre Pop, dance, children's song | ||
"Dur dur d'être bébé!", which was retitled "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Tough to Be a Baby)" for its American audience, is a 1992 song recorded by French singer Jordy Lemoine, credited as Jordy. The first single from his debut album Pochette surprise, it was released in September 1992 and achieved success across the world, particularly in France.
Contents
Background
After having tried to involve Jordy in TV advertisements for nappies where the baby should repeat "hard, hard to be wet", Claude Lemoine, Jordy's father, had the idea of using dance music and simple lyrics to create a catchy song. The result was well received in discothèques, which convinced Lemoine to release it as a commercial single.
Charts performances and records
Thanks to this song, Jordy was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest singer ever to reach number one on a singles chart. He achieved this feat in France in October 1992 at the age of four and a half, beating the previous world record held by Osamu Minagawa and French record held by Elsa Lunghini. Jordy was also the youngest artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 58 with the song.
"Dur dur d'être bébé!" entered the French chart at number four on 26 September 1992, rose to number two for two weeks, and then topped the chart for 15 weeks, which was the record at the time. The previous record for the longest stretch atop the French chart had belonged to Images' "Les Démons de minuit" (1986) and Licence IV's "Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison" (1987), at 13 weeks apiece. Following its stay atop the chart, Jordy's single held the number two slot for another four weeks, eventually totalling 26 weeks in the French top ten and 30 weeks in the top 50. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" was also a dance hit across Europe, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Japan.
The song is currently the 224th best-selling single of all time in France. An English-language version and a mix version were also recorded and are available on the album Pochette Surprise.
Cover versions
In 1993, the song was adapted into Portuguese by Ana Faria to be performed by children/teenpop group Onda Choc, known thus as "Que Vida A De Um Bebé!" It's featured on their thirteenth album Viva o Verão!
In 2010, the song was covered by Bébé Lilly and released as single in France, where it hit number 15 for two weeks on the singles chart.